The Accident
by QuirkyChameleon
Summary: The day of the accident. LDD. I own absolutely nothing.


Bridge To Terabithia Fanfiction 4

The Accident

"Jess! Jess!"

Jess Aarons watched his little sister May Belle flounce happily into his room, holding the phone.

"I called you three times!" she said. "It's your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Jess snapped, taking the phone from her. He automatically assumed it was his best friend Leslie Burke since May Belle had to have noticed by now that he rarely left her company. In any case, Jess always found time to talk to her.  
He picked up the phone, feeling warm inside.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi Jess," said a woman's voice.

Jess was taken aback. Whoever this was, it most certainly wasn't Leslie.

"Wait...who is this?"

"I know it's a Saturday, but it's your teacher, Ms. Edmunds," said the voice.

Jess could scarcely believe his luck.

Jess approached the small Jeep in the driveway, feeling more exhilarated than he would have believed possible. Ms. Edmunds smiled when he got in the car.

As they began to drive, however, his eyes traveled automatically toward Leslie's house. He could invite her too, couldn't he? Ms. Edmunds probably wouldn't mind.

"Forget something?" said Ms. Edmunds, noticing Jess' thought process.

At first, Jess thought no, because he finally had the beautiful Ms. Edmunds all to himself. But he felt a tender softness for Leslie that he could not begin to put into words.

Not only that, but the creek had risen so much that he feared for her life the next time she tried to cross it. And he couldn't shake the feeling that today she would try.

"Ms. Edmunds, can we invite Leslie?"

"Of course," smiled Ms. Edmunds. "The more the merrier."

"Y-Yeah," he said, forcing a laugh. "I'll be right back."

Jess got out of the car and ran to Terabithia immediately. He didn't want to stop at Leslie's house to ask if she had gone because he could waste valuable time.

He ran as fast as he possibly could toward the creek, his frightened heartbeat pumping all the harder, his worn shoes protesting against the rocky ground.

To Jess' relief, he caught up to her just when she grabbed the rope.

"LESLIE, DON'T!"

Leslie gave a shriek of surprise and dropped it. Jess hadn't meant to shout at her, but it was too dangerous for her to swing.

"I'm sorry," he said almost immediately. "I need to talk to you."

_About lots of things_.

"We can talk in Terabithia," said Leslie, starting forward.

"No," said Jess, taking her arm before he could stop himself. "I need to talk _now._"

"Okay," said Leslie, stopping.

"Look, I really don't have a good feeling about the rope," Jess said, the words tumbling out.

"What?" said Leslie. "Oh Jess, it's fine. It won't hurt us. It's our way into our kingdom."

"But the creek-" Jess stammered, his fear impairing his ability to speak fluently. "It's rising-too dangerous for you-I mean us-"

"Jess, it's okay. It's held us up before, hasn't it? Why would this time be any different?"

"Because-because-"

"Watch," said Leslie, picking up the rope again and preparing to go across. "You'll see there is nothing to worry about. It can hold me."

"Leslie, don't-"

Jess' attempt to stop her came too late; Leslie grabbed the rope and swung.

_SNAP._

Leslie screamed, and Jess yelled "NO!" as she fell with a loud splash into the water.

Jess flung himself in without thinking twice.

The water was cold and dark and he could feel it pulling at him to join Leslie in probably struggling for air, but he would not. He had to save her.

Jess came up for oxygen and finally saw her limp figure drifting away with the current. He let the current drag him to where she was before grabbing her, throwing her small form onto his back, and beginning to fight the rushing water to get back.

But it was very strong, and Jess could not risk losing his footing or they would both drown.

He suddenly felt warm stickiness on his neck and looked down. There was a sickening gash in Leslie's head, and blood was trickling down. Leslie was also still unconscious.

"Hang on," Jess said, both to himself and Leslie. "Hang on, Leslie, just hang in there."

Jess also felt the stones in the creek cutting and bruising him, and one felt like it broke his ankle. He ignored the pain and kept his mind on Leslie.

Finally he gave up fighting the current and flung himself to the shore of wherever they were.

Jess collapsed onto the grass, panting, and lay Leslie down gently beside him.

"Leslie," he gasped. "Leslie!"

She didn't move or speak. Leslie was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises. Her head was still leaking ominously, and her skin was deathly pale.

No, Leslie, no!" Jess said, shaking her.

This had no effect whatsoever.

"Leslie," he said again. "Hold on, just hold on!"

Jess remembered some medical show he'd seen on TV about drowning.

_It is necessary to perform resussitation on the victim._

He wasn't sure if it would help, but he may as well try for his friend.

Jess prayed that Leslie would forgive him for this and tried mouth-to-mouth.

Then he pressed on her chest several times and put his ear down to her mouth. Nothing.

Wild with panic, he tried again. And again. And again.

Finally, Leslie gave a cough.

"Leslie?" said Jess.

"Jess..." Leslie said in a very soft voice that was almost unnerving. "Am...I...dead?"

Jess seized Leslie and started hugging her. She gave a cry of pain and set her down immediately, regretting and at the same time rejoicing that he had hugged her.

"No," Jess breathed. "No. You're alive."

Leslie reached out a hand and took the front of his shirt. Her eyes stared into Jess', as if she was trying to find something.

"Help...me..." she gasped.

Then her eyelids drooped and closed. Her grip on his shirt loosened.

Jess quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around Leslie before picking her up and limping as fast as he could back along the creek.

When he got back outside the forest, he ran up to Ms. Edmunds, who was standing there. Supposedly she had been looking for him.

"Jess, where have you-"

Then she gasped when she saw Leslie and Jess, who was starting to sway from exhaustion.

"Hospital," he managed to gasp. "Please."

Then he fainted, with Leslie landing safely beside him.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Jess could see bright lights behind his eyelids and the constant beeping of a nearby machine.

"Huh...werrizthis," he muttered, his sudden drowsiness slurring his words. "Wuzzgoinon."

"You had a bit of trouble down in the creek, young man," said a husky voice that belonged to a doctor. Jess blinked, the room was still a little unfocused.

"Where are my family," He muttered. "What's-"

"Calm down son," said the doctor. "Your family came to see you a while ago, along with that young Edmunds woman. You were out, so they went home.

But you're going to be fine. I say, you're a mighty brave soul to try and save that lady friend of yours. She nearly died. By the way, I'm Dr. Morrison."

Jess sat up straight, hardly hearing the introduction.

"You mean Leslie? Is she okay?"

"We're not sure if she'll make it."

"Can I go see her?" said Jess.

"You need to rest," said a nurse, coming in. Dr. Morrison stared at her.

"No, I'm fine," said Jess, getting up. He actually had a small cast on his ankle, but it wasn't hurting him. "I want to go see Leslie."

"If you're talking about that girl that came with you, she's not awake yet," said the nurse bluntly. "She's still unconscious. And she's pretty beat up."

"Ms. Thomas," began Morrison, but she ignored him.

"As for _you_," the nurse continued coldly. "You don't know anything, you're a child. Now lay back down before you make yourself worse."

"No," Jess repeated calmly.

"Why you little-"  
"Calm yourself, Beverly!" said Morrison. He turned to Jess.

"Yes, go. I don't know if she'll be awake, but they'll let you in if you tell them who you are. Her room number is 703. It's just down the hall, you can't miss it."

Beverly stood there with her mouth open, while Jess quickly limped out of the room.

He soon found the room number and entered cautiously, afraid of what he might find.

Leslie lay in her bed, motionless, sunlight falling across her bed and causing her hair to emit a golden glow. She was so beautiful that Jess simply stood and stared for a moment.

Then he walked to her bed and sat down next to it. She was a horrible sight up close.

Leslie's head had a white and bloody bandage pressed to it. Her arms (since her legs were not visible from underneath her blankets) had scratches, cuts and bruises all over them.

A doctor came in and saw him.  
"Who are you?"

"Jess Aarons," said Jess.

"Oh," said the doctor, comprehension dawning on her face. "Right. Well, the girl's parents will be back here in a bit, so don't take too long."

She set about her work without another word.

As soon as the doctor had left, Jess turned toward Leslie's pale, motionless face.

"Hey," he said quietly. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I need to say something to you.

"They don't know if you'll wake up yet. And by the sight of you, it'll probably be a little while.

"They told me you almost died. I never would have forgiven myself if I hadn't jumped in the creek after you (you fell in, in case you don't remember).

I wish you'd listened to me when I said don't."

Then, in spite of himself, he smiled.

"But you couldn't help it, could you?" he said gently. "You're not afraid of anything."

_You make me think of a bird. _Jess thought. _The way you run. You look like you're flying._

"It's okay," Jess said to Leslie's still motionless face. "I forgive you. I always would.

I'm glad I could save you."

Jess paused here, blinking. He was amazed at how emotional he was getting talking about it.

"If you had died-"

He gulped, trying to hold back his tears, and started again.

"If you had-"

And at this point he could not go on. He began to cry, and then sob, and he laid his head on Leslie's bed, tears streaming.

"What if you die?" he choked, the exact words May Belle had said herself only a few weeks ago.

"Leslie, what if you die?"

Then quite suddenly a hand reached out and began to stroke his hair. A voice:

"I'm...not...dead...Jess."

Jess looked up, his vision blurred with tears. He sat up and wiped his eyes.

Leslie's eyes were not yet open but Jess saw her mouth moving.

"Leslie?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"How are you?"

"Now isn't...that a...stupid...question," said Leslie softly, her eyes still closed. "For all I know...my head is cracked open...and I have cuts everywhere. How do...you _think..._I am?"

"Sorry," said Jess, feeling hurt until he saw her smiling, her jewel-bright eyes opening. Then he was suddenly overwhelmed by happiness that she was alive and hugged her tightly.

"I'm just so glad you're okay," he said.

"Me too," said Leslie.

Jess let go of her, beaming. He was so grateful to see her face that he was angry with her for trying the rope at all.

"I thought I lost you," he said to her. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

"I'm so sorry," said Leslie quietly. "I just wanted to swing again."

Then she closed her eyes, panting slightly; talking was exhausting for her.

"Get some rest," said Jess, getting up. "You're pretty beat up."

Leslie nodded drowsily. "Okay. And Jess?"

"Yeah," said Jess, turning around.

"Thank you."

Jess nodded. "Sure."

As he left the room, the terrible fear in his stomach had vanished. It had been replaced by a warm glow of affection for his friend.

And just like that, something clicked in Jess' head.

He stopped walking, realization flooding through him.

Jess was in love with Leslie.

FIN


End file.
